The God of the Old and the New

I think it was Flute who asked if the God of the Old Testament was the same as the God of the New Testament. This was after I’d listed verse after verse after verse from the New Testament showing God’s concern and love for us. What follows is just a small, small sample of verses from the Old Testament describing the very same God.

Something that another atheist asked, or said, regarding God's choosing Israel over other nations, was that God is like an unfit parent, favouring one child over another. Like all atheists, this one makes an observation but never asks, “Why would God do this?”

Of course, in response to this post, atheists will pull out verses describing the wiping out of the nations that oppose Israel. Well, that can't be denied. God is a serious individual. His power and intent need to be reckoned with. One of the things that comments like this shows is that while atheists talk about survival, survival, survival, they really aren't very good at it. So, to the post -

Jeremiah 30:17 - But I will restore you to health O Israel and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'

Hosea 4:14 - "I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes - a people without understanding will come to ruin!

Malachi 3:10 - Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Zechariah 8:16-17 - These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the LORD.

Zephaniah 2:3 - Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 - Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour

Nahum 1:7 - The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,

Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God

Joel 2:32 - And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

Joel 2:13 - Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Hosea 14: 9 - Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 11:1-4 - When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezekiel 33:11 - Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

Ezekiel 18:21-22 - But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live.

Lamentations 3:22-23 - Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Jeremiah 31:34 - No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 22:3 - This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 - But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 9:23-24 - This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Malachi 2:16 - I hate divorce

Exodus 22:21,22 - "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.

Malachi 2:5 - My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace

Exodus 23:9 - Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

Zechariah 8:16,17 - These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbour and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this declares the Lord

Leviticus 19:10 - Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19: 32-34 - Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 23:22 - " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

Leviticus 24:22 - You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.' "

Amos 5:21-24 - I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. For let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Leviticus 25:35 - If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.

Numbers 9:14 - An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born.'

Hosea 14:9 - Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Numbers 15:15 - The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD

Hosea 12:6 - But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 - For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.

Hosea 10:12 - Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love.

Deuteronomy 14:28,29 - At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Hosea 6:6 - For I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Deuteronomy 24:14 - Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.

Deuteronomy 24:17 - Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

Daniel 9:4 - O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands.

Deuteronomy 27:19 - Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.

Ezekiel 36:26 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Deuteronomy 23:15 - If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.

Ezekiel 34:11 - 17 - I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. I look after my sheep. I will rescue them. I will pasture them. I will tend them in a good pasture. I myself will tend my sheep. I will search for them, the lost and the injured and strengthen the weak. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Exodus 23:1,2 - "Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favouritism to a poor man in his lawsuit just because he is poor.

Exekiel 33:11 - As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

Isaiah 55:7 - Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 66:2 - This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Isaiah 58:6 - Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and to not turn away from your own flesh and blood.

Isaiah 55:6,7 - Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55:1 - Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come and eat!

Isaiah 49:23 - Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

Isaiah 46:4 - Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 43:1,2 - Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

Isaiah 42:2-4 - He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.

Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 40:31 - Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 30:15, 18 - In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 25:4 - You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

Isaiah 11:2-4 - The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - The Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of power, of knowledge. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

Isaiah 1:17,18 - Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as withe as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Ecclesiastes 2:26 - To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.

2nd Chronicles 16:9 - For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.

Ps. 4:8 - I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.

Ps. 9:9,10 - The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.